Frost Mage Mistakes and How to Improve - Battle for Azeroth 8.1

Problems Intro\rWelcome to Wowhead's Frost Mage Problems page for Tides of Vengeance, Battle for Azeroth's first content patch! This page will walk you through common problems, pitfalls, and places to improve your gameplay in order to maintain a competitive edge. Many of the topics covered are based on the Frost Mage rotations, so make sure you familiarize yourself with that information to get the most out of this guide.\r\rMany topics covered in this page are based on log analysis, using WarcraftLogs. If you are not familiar with it, make sure to check our guide about how to use it.\r\r\rOur guides are always updated with the latest information from in-game experience, simulations, and logs; make sure to check our changelog to this page, by clicking on View Changelog at the top of the page. If you are interested in more in-depth Frost Mage information in Tides of Vengeance, Battle for Azeroth's first content patch, make sure to browse the Navigation Bar below, and our list of Related Guides just beneath the Table of Contents.\r\rWould you like to quickly find this guide using Discord? You can do it easily using Jeeves Bot! Click here to add Jeeves to your Discord server.\r\r\r\rOverview\rQuick Start\rAzerite\rTalent Builds\rRotation, Priority, and Abilities\rStats\rGear\rConsumables\rSimulations\rNEW Correcting Mistakes\rNEW Mythic+\rNEW Raid & Uldir Tips\rMacros & Addons\rWeakAuras\rCommon Terms\r\r\r\rAbout the Author\rAbout the Author\rMalon has been throwing fireballs at bad guys since 2005. He raids with <Omen> on Emerald Dream EU, and has two lifelong ambitions: have a Mage trainer named after him, and get the Warlock class renamed to 'Fuzzy Cuddlebears'. He's not sure which is more realistic. He is also a moderator on the Mage Discord Server.\rTwitter: https:\/\/twitter.com\/ArcaneTactics\rWebsite: www.altered-time.com\r\r\r\r\r\r\rMajor pitfalls\rShatter combo\rThe Shatter combo is a vital part of Frost Mage DPS and you must use it to compete. It involves casting your instant Flurry (from Brain Freeze) immediately at the end of a Frostbolt or Glacial Spike cast, enabling both the Frostbolt\/Spike, Flurry and Ice Lance to benefit from the Winter\u2019s Chill effect (this even applies to freeze-immune enemies like raid bosses).\r\rGlacial Spike\rYou should never cast Glacial Spike at a single target without Shattering it using Brain Freeze. Begin to hold Brain Freeze procs at three Icicles to ensure that this is possible. If it will hit two targets (Splitting Ice), you can cast Spike without the Shatter combo.\r\rEbonbolt\rEbonbolt hits hard and generates a Brain Freeze proc. Unlike Legion, you should not immediately consume the Brain Freeze with a Shatter combo; neither should you use the spell on cooldown. Instead, save Ebonbolt for when you want to cast Glacial Spike but don\u2019t have a Brain Freeze, then cast Ebonbolt (gain Brain Freeze) > Glacial Spike > Flurry > Ice Lance. Do not use the spell at any other time (unless, of course, you aren't using Glacial Spike - in which case you are better using Frozen Touch).\r\rCommon mistakes\rFingers of Frost munching\rFingers of Frost and Brain Freeze work against each other, in that you need to use Ice Lance following a Brain Freeze-Flurry, but doing so will waste a Fingers of Frost proc if you have one (as the target is already considered frozen because of Winter\u2019s Chill).\r\rThe temptation is to finish casting a Frostbolt, use all of your Fingers procs and then Frostbolt\/Glacial Spike > Flurry > Ice Lance. However, this is incorrect; as Brain Freeze doesn\u2019t stack, you should prioritise using it first unless you are using Glacial Spike and at three or more Icicles. In this case you would save Brain Freeze to combo with the Spike. If you have Brain Freeze and three+ Icicles, you can dump your Fingers of Frost charges before casting Glacial Spike.\r\rDouble Ice Lance\rThe aim of double Ice Lance is to have two Ice Lances hit within one Winter\u2019s Chill debuff. It is only possible while under the effects of both Icy Veins and Time Warp (>90% haste is required), and is a much smaller DPS gain than it was in Legion, with the loss of traits from Ebonchill. If you do attempt it, cast Frostbolt > Brain Freeze-Flurry > Ice Lance > Ice Lance, running towards the target during Ice Lance casts. You can also Ice Lance - Shimmer - Ice Lance, although the need to reposition afterwards may not be worth it.\r\rMajor things to Improve\rShatter Comet Storm\rYou should use Comet Storm on frozen targets wherever possible, to benefit from Shatter. You can only do this in group content using your Water Elemental\u2019s Freeze ability immediately after casting Comet Storm (the global cooldown is too long to cast Comet Storm > Frost Nova).\r\rRemember your ABCs\rABC, in this case, stands for Always Be Casting; any time you are not casting, you are losing damage. Downtime is common during movement for most casters, but Frost Mages have many procs that can negate this somewhat; don\u2019t be afraid to save one Fingers of Frost for a short time if you know that movement is coming.\r\rUsing Fingers of Frost can help you to reposition, but Brain Freeze is the real winner here: it gives you two whole global cooldowns (three seconds) of movement while still dealing damage. However, never sit on a Brain Freeze proc without using it.\r\rYou can also use Shimmer or Ice Floes to move without stopping casting. See here for how to game Ice Floes to get more than the normal three charges out of the spell.\r\rLog Analysis\rWe recommend inputting a log report into WoW Analyzer to view areas that you could improve on. It will show you details such as your proc and cooldown usage, broken down by class and spec; for example: non-Shattered Ice Lances, Flurries cast without Brain Freeze, and use of the Shatter combo (\u2018Hardcast into Winter\u2019s Chill').\rProblems Footer\rPrevious Page:\rConsumables\rNext Page:\rMythic+\r\r\r\r\r\rFeedback\r\rThanks for reading our class guides! If you have any feedback about the guides, feel free to leave a comment in the section below and we will reply as quickly as possible. If you'd like to talk with any of our writers directly you can do so by joining our Discord Server and finding them there!